Unlike other professions where the practitioner
may have a more comprehensive knowledge of their field than consumers, personal
finance is an area where the consumer should be engaged, willing to learn and
apply information in a manner that will best serve their long-term interests.

A
financial planner who is truly concerned about your success should want to
educate you on all areas of your financial planning—not only for your benefit,
but to make your financial planning more successful.

It is not uncommon for consumers to lack
confidence in their financial decision making and they look to financial
professionals to help them devise competent financial plans to help them reach
their goals and objectives.

For those who seek financial planners to assist
them in creating a plan that they feel can be more effective than the one that
they could come up with—it is still important that the financial planner
educate them thoroughly on all areas of their finances so that they can
more effectively improve their finances—on a consistent basis.

*Have the time and money to contribute to their favorite charitable causes

*Long-Term
Goals (8 plus years)

*Have enough in retirement account income to
replace at least 60% of current income

*Have enough investment income to purchase a
vacation home

*Have a properly funded Education Account

*Revisit the need for Estate Planning

*Business Formation

*Eliminate All Debt Including House Payment

*Have enough money in Retirement Account to live
at Pre-retirement level

*Have enough money in Retirement Account to live in retirement and do what you desire

*Purchase Long-Term-Care Insurance if Retirement
Account is not on track to reach targeted amount

Keep in mind that many of the goals mentioned
above may be immediate, short, intermediate or long-term depending on your
individual or family situation.

A
Financial Planner Will Help Their Client Establish a Financial Mission:

Once your mission is identified and embraced—a
planner would then assist you in identifying your financial goals and
objectives.

Thereafter, alternative strategies could be created that you could
choose from that you felt was the best fit for you and your family.

Once you choose a plan it must be implemented
and monitored and feedback (from your planner) must be provided on the plan’s
performance for the plan to be the most effective.

Goal
Planning does have the following limitations:

• Inflation

• Use of Estimates

• Use of Benchmarks

"Inflation" always seems to rear its
ugly head. In many cases you will have to adjust your stated investment returns
for inflation to determine your real return.

In many areas of finance "estimates are
used", and as you know an estimate is only an estimate!

Fair market value
for your assets such as your home, boat, car and other assets used on personal
financial statements are subject to the accuracy—or lack thereof—of your, your
financial planner’s or other professional’s estimate.

Personal Financial Statements are rarely made
public therefore you would have few "benchmarks" as a point of
comparison.

He is the creator of TheWealthIncreaser.com where he regularly blogs about helping
consumers improve their credit, finance and real estate pursuits in an
intelligent, consistent and proactive manner.

He’s always looking for
ways to make intelligent
finance improvement happen for those who “sincerely desire”
success in their future. He was the first financial planner to coin the phrase "financially alert mind"
and he consistently writes in a style that is designed to provide
consumers the ability to take control of their lives and achieve great
results.

You can contact
him from a number of sources but the most direct way is to contact
him through the contact us block that can be found at the bottom of this page.
You can also get highly relevant tips on "living your life more abundantly" and link to TheWealthIncreaser.com and possibly earn revenue by logging on to TheWealthIncreaser.com.

He is also an IRS registered tax planning professional with over 30 years of tax experience and can be reached at: